Our Graven Image

A continuation of the post: Holy

One does not have to build a statue to worship a graven image.

Jesus showed us that hate in our hearts was murder. Making God out to be a static entity within our hearts is no different than worshiping a stone; it is no different than worshiping an idol or graven image.

My insistence on the intrinsic fallibility of what we currently call the Bible isn't the chief of my concerns. And I don't even necessarily mean I would remove anything from it. (Insert scary Revelation quote.) Though I am open to it, and I might. And it is among my most core beliefs that the written holy text of Thee I AM aka the Bible has not ended, and should be added to. What I do mean is that the Bible’s assembly isn't as anointed as we make it out to be, and its place in our lives is somewhere other than True North. These two points hold my most irrevocable conviction. Lots of my other opinions on this matter find themselves along a most enjoyable journey with God.

Let me state clearly and with total finality: I am so grateful that the words that shall not perish were written and passed down. I am so glad, thankful, etc., etc., etc., that we have every single word in the Bible!

Men appointed directly by God in the Bible made huge mistakes that had massive consequences. Who is to say some part of the very long list of decisions that canonized “The Inherent Word of God” were not something less than PERFECT?

Apparently everyone, that’s who.

To make this point, one has to argue that God broke character and treated this book, that he neither wrote, nor prophesied about differently than literally everything else. And I understand that is exactly what many say.

Precedence, God’s character, and the very nature in which he interacts with the created world would indicate that he allows us to make mistakes and learn from them. Even if those mistakes have HUGE consequences. Even if the mistakes cause Babylon to take everything, even if a generation doesn’t realize their promise, even if that means your eyes get ripped out and you’re turned into a spectacle and laughing stock while chained in the temple of your enemies. Which is exactly what the church is in comparison to its calling, a pathetic nearly useless laughing stock chained in the temple of the enemy.

Simply because something is useful, good, anointed and holy doesn’t mean it can’t be used for great evil, delusion & distraction. (For reference see all of history both biblical and non)

Arguing that the Bible has landed in our modern times somewhere other than True North shouldn’t be a controversy, it should be a historical, spiritual and logical certainty.

So you may concede that our relationship with the Bible it is somewhere other than True North, but, it’s not that far off. That’s fine and fair, it’s still doesn’t mean it isn’t important to set things right. Here is why. If the Bible were not of great importance, tuning it to be 1% better would make almost no difference, but when something is surpassingly powerful, if you can squeeze out a single basis point of increase, you change everything.

Think of it this way, if someone had an overbearing parent, seeking to correct certain behaviors of this parent isn't to say, "you aren't my mom or dad." Such efforts would be to restore relationships so that it might be healthy for all. Working to restore is a greater love than accepting brokenness.

Also, loving a child for who they are instead of who a parent wants them to be is a greater love. It is a more effective love. I love the Bible. I would say I love it more than 99.99% of Christians. Because I care enough to find out what it really is and isn't. I value it above 99.99% of Christians because I realationship with it; I tabernacle with it. Just as the sabbath was created for man, not man for the sabbath, the Bible was created for man, not man for the Bible. And just like putting the sabbath in its proper place upset religious folks then, putting the bible in its proper place upsets religious folks now. Like any useful tool, outside its scope of work, it s found wanting and hinders more than helps.

Almost all Christians have asked Moses to go into the holy of holies in their stead, but your Moses is a group of dudes whose names you don't even know. At least the Israelites could attest to Moses' character. Your stand-in high priest and window into the temple are men you don't know from Adam. You trust some sinful guy, who trusted a sinful guy, who trusted a fallen guy, who trusted an imperfect guy... and so on. Again, the book, the Bible, is among the least of my concerns when compared to the heart issues that grow out of our idol graven-image worship of it.

Though its value, by most, is misappropriated massively, I need to do some clarifying because it is not what I care most about. Again, I care about the heart behind it. I care that we use the Bible to validate our unanointed & stagnate approach to the forcefully advancing Kingdom of Heaven.

If what "TheChurch" says is true, the Bible would largely be about... TheBible. Instead, it is about a man, a hero, a lover, a warrior, a king, a relationship, a friend.

All scripture is not equal, having the same value or significance. His words, not mine. Saying there is a greatest commandment is one-to-one saying others are not as great. Many of the writings in the Bible are scripture (whatever that is) But, what about all the canonizations of the Bible? Some later group of dudes decided... let’s only have 66 books. There is exactly 0% chance we get to heaven and find out we nailed TheBible in assembly, translation, and certainly interpretation. If it mattered that much to God, he would have sent his book like he sent his son. He would have prophesied about this book as he prophesied about his son and his spirit.

One must explain: why didn't Jesus talk about the Bible? He makes no mention of it. None. If anything, he warns about what happens when a bunch of people gather around and start canonizing shit. Is his second coming so less significant than the first that "his" book has to end millennia before its culmination?

God never cheats. If he were ever to cheat, he would’ve cheated instead of having his son die.

When free apartments were given to inner-city Chicagoans they destroyed the buildings within months… Our most subsidize community in the US, Native Americans, lead and every negative statistic. Human beings do not do well with subsidization, whether that be financial, emotional, or something else. Jesus dying on the cross was the greatest of all subsidizations. With his perfection, he subsidized our imperfection. And like other massive gifts freely given, as much as they help, they challenge and even break the recipients. We are still recovering from this great gift. We are still drowning in the squaller of it’s surpassing splendor.

Like entitled brats addicted to entitlements, we are still trying to convince our savior to be our sugar daddy; we keep wanting him to do it for us. He won’t. He can’t. Because he already did. And his message, now, like then, is: you go first. The most powerful thing in the universe is the will of man because the most powerful person in the universe wanted it that way.

He came to send us on a journey; we made camp. He came to set the captive free; we built prisons around everything. He came to say, “you go first;” we called his journey blasphemy and dug into a destination. He said a new song; the best of us lay again the same foundation, sometimes something slightly more. He marched onward, leading us to something we can not yet bear; we enslaved ourselves with what was already borne.

It’s time to embrace our weight and significance everywhere we find it: which is everywhere.

God is a grown-ass man. More so than we can imagine. Everywhere we bury our talents, we do him, and ourselves a great injustice. He welcomes the nuance and even our perceived brutality of the journey; infact, he embraces it, and even scolds those who hold back.

Insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different result. Instead of listening to the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Jesus, the different, set-apart & Holy Spirit, we betray Luke's warnings about laying again the same foundation. Worse still, we have foolishly deluded ourselves into expecting a new result from this sameness; we have insanely believed that stale sacrifice will call down fresh fire. It hasn't and certainly never will. Same begets same. Different begets different. Holy begets Holy.

The prophets had to call kings back to things that were… in order to call them forward to something new. In deepest love and firm rebuke, I call the Christian Church back to community with God and a right relationship with his scripture so that they might hear that which calls them onward to the ever-leading, still-proceeding heart of the Father. Like the angel armies of Elijah, if we haven't seen anything, it's because we haven't the eyes to see. If we haven't heard anything, it's because we haven't ears to hear… It has been 2,000 years and we haven’t seen anything… it’s been 2,000 years and we have heard nothing, no voice, no vision, no revelation… nothing, nothing worth writing down, nothing worth saying, “this is the word of the Lord, Amen.”

His voice is Holy yesterday, today, and forever. Just as it was, is, and is to come, only those who have hearts tuned towards Holiness hear & see. And only those who hear & see come to the table to taste and eat.

For an infinitely unique God who created infinitely unique beings who are called to infinitely unique journies, we sure do find ourselves in the same chattle-car quite often. Have not the greatest in the Bible brought disruption to what was canon? Did Jesus himself not disrupt canonization, and did he not say we would do greater things? Oh, but I forgot, God is supposed to do that; we are just supposed to watch... Hogwarsh! It is up to us, his words, not mine. And by my heart of obedience, I seek to be like him, for I take the honor of where I have been seated seriously. I seek to be hot, but where I am found to be cold, I rejoice that I am certainly not lukewarm.

I hope I always dance in the street more than I break bread with the Sanhedrin. I hope we all do. I hope my journey is one that will become even more undignified. I hope I always love God as myself. I pray you do too.

Be Dangerous. Do Justly. Love Mercy. Be Vast. Be Different. Be Holy. Be You.

It is up to us.

Hold Tension, Be Vast.

Remember, restoration alone brings victory